Computing devices, such as personal computers (PCs), are widespread within the fabric of current communications networks at every level, from in-home networks to global networks like the Internet and the World-Wide Web (“WWW”). Digital media files of many types, including pictures, video, audio, greeting cards, animations, games, artwork, music compositions, x-rays, scanned documents, software programs, and the like are frequently transmitted between computing devices.
In a variety of known examples, one processor-based device functioning as a host may communicate wirelessly or via a cable with a less fully featured processor-based device that may be referred to herein as a “processor-based appliance”, a “digital appliance”, an “electronic appliance”, or simply an “appliance”. An example is a chat pad wirelessly communicating with a PC. Another example is a processor-based telephone communicating telephone call information with a processor-based device that acts as a host. Other examples include a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a digital music player that may wirelessly communicate with a PC.
However, to handle, file, and transfer digital media files, a substantial amount of user involvement may be required. Often, a computer user will find operations involving a digital media file so frustrating that he or she will quit trying to use a particular digital media file or even forego using all digital media files. This is particularly true for operations involving transferring or forwarding a digital media file to another processor-based device, such as emailing a digital photo to a friend, transmitting a digital photo to a digital picture frame (DPF) (discussed in greater detail in the “Detailed Description of Embodiments of the Invention”), downloading an audio file to a personal entertainment device like an MP3 (Moving Picture Experts Group, audio layer 3) audio player, and the like.
For example, a computer user may receive a video postcard attached to an email and want to display it on his digital picture frame in another room, or he may want to download an MP3 file to his MP3 audio player. He typically must open additional applications and follow an involved and often non-intuitive series of steps to move the digital media file to the proper file folder, where the appropriate media manager software can find it and include it in subsequent downloads. It is time-consuming, inconvenient, and frustrating to operate in the current manner. Less PC-literate consumers often experience difficulty in finding files they download from email and are not able to find and forward such files to people operating other processor-based devices.
For example, to share a digital media file with a buddy via electronic mail, the user must open an electronic mail application, create a new electronic mail message, address the electronic mail message, remember the location of the file to attach and its potentially obscure file system name, attach the desired media file, think of something to say to the recipient, and send the message. Thus, simply handling and transferring files exceeds the level of sophistication of many likely system users.
In general, many media transfer operations on processor-based devices are time-consuming and inconvenient. These operations may be sufficiently tedious that they may significantly decrease the user's enjoyment and utilization of the processor-based device.
There is a wide variation in resources among processor-based devices, ranging from full-featured computing systems to very basic processor-based devices.
Examples of processor-based devices having relatively limited features include a variety of digital appliances. Such appliances typically have reduced processing and storage resources compared with typical PCs. A few examples of such processor-based devices include a digital picture frame, a digital music player, a PDA, Internet-capable cellular telephones, and the like.
A digital picture frame (also referred to herein as a “DPF”) is a processor-based device that includes a display for displaying digital pictures. A DPF may be used like a conventional picture frame to display pictures, such as pictures of family and friends and the like. However, with a DPF, the pictures may be changed and displayed digitally.
A number of DPFs are known in the art, including DPFs that are commercially available from Sony Corporation of America, New York City, N.Y.; Digi-Frame Inc., Port Chester, N.Y.; Ceiva Logic, Inc., Burbank, Calif.; and Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y. DPFs may also be referred to in the art as electronic picture frames, Internet frames, or smart frames.
In known DPFs, two basic types of image file handling are used. In one type, pictures can be input from a digital camera or PC, and the pictures are conveyed into and out of the DPF on a removable memory element or device, such as a memory card, MemoryStick™ device, SmartMedia device, or the like.
In the second type, the DPF can periodically download pictures over a modem from the Internet into a local memory for display. In addition, some DPFs are also capable of uploading pictures via the Internet to a dedicated server. When an Internet appliance connection service is provided today, the user must pay a monthly subscription fee.
In the field of DPFs, there is significant competitive pressure among manufacturers to increase the performance of their equipment. As market forces drive DPF manufacturers to produce DPFs with increased performance, DPF architectures and feature sets accordingly need to support the increased performance expectations.
Thus, there is a need for better ways to transfer media information between processor-based devices including, but not limited to, appliances such as a DPF.